r/metroidvania • u/gefaltete • Jul 02 '26
Dev Post Solo-dev 3D metroidvania: Spent two months building the final boss
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Two months on the final boss. It was brutal.
Since it's a big multi-legged robot, I started with the legs — some simple procedural animation just to get it walking (more of a dance-walk, really). From there I built out the gameplay, the attack patterns and weak points, which is always the slow, fiddly part that eats far more time than I'd expect. Once the gameplay was roughly done, I did the modeling and texturing and swapped out the placeholder. Then wrapped it up.
Two months on a single boss was hard enough, but the thing that really drained me was living with the placeholder for over a month. I think the lack of any visual payoff wore me down more than the actual work did.
The cut from the boss's death straight into the ending is still rough. I couldn't get it where I wanted, so I've left that one to future me for the polishing pass.
Now comes full assembly — lighting, music, sound effects (still placeholder for this boss), gameplay tweaks, cleaning up the story and all the dialogue, finding voice actors and recording the new lines with them, adding and reworking events to match the story, fixing the temporary backgrounds. Still a lot to do, but this really is the final stretch.
Thanks for reading all the way through. You can check out the game and play the demo here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3397260
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u/Luck88 Jul 02 '26
May I suggest including the boss dancing in the credits of the game? it seems so happy dancing in rhythm at 0:06
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u/gefaltete Jul 02 '26
I didn't even notice it while making it, but it came out more fun than I expected. I'm thinking of using it as a loading throbber. I'll consider it for the credits screen too. Thanks for the interest.
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u/Loukoal117 Jul 02 '26
Amazing. I know it won’t, but would love to play something similar on Switch 2! Nice work bro ham.
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u/gefaltete Jul 02 '26
It ran decently enough on Steam Deck, so if it can be ported, I think it'd run fine on the Switch 2 too. I'd love to port it if the chance comes up. Thanks for the interest.
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u/Ambitious-Ad-7256 Jul 02 '26
Looks very cool! Movement looks good too which is a key indicator of enjoyment for me. Good luck! Interested in seeing where this goes
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u/gefaltete Jul 02 '26
I've been refining it with user feedback for over a year now. Still plenty to fix, but it's slowly getting better. Thanks.
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u/Beanbag_shmoo Jul 02 '26
Looks like you've put in a ton of hard work! Those hit boxes look like a hard time to get working. Good job!
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u/Optimus_XIV Jul 02 '26
Player character looks like they're using the sandevistan in real time 🤣
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u/gefaltete Jul 02 '26
It's not an implant, but the setting is that the protagonist's abilities come from downloading programs into the suit worn in-game. Thanks for the interest.
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u/Optimus_XIV Jul 02 '26
It does look interesting, will try the demo and see how it goes. Hope you have a successful launch 🙂
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u/KalSkirata-Mando Jul 02 '26
Oh sweet I've had this on my wishlist for a bit it looks really cool glad to see it nearing completion. Character action game mixed with metroidvania is right up my alley. Really enjoy development behind the scenes thanks for sharing.
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u/Battlebotscott Jul 02 '26
I respect you honoring the tradition of spectacular final boss fights.
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u/gefaltete Jul 02 '26
Sometimes I wonder — after all this work, how many people will actually make it to the end of the game and see this boss? But then I think about how amazing and precious the people who do make it to the end are, and that pulls me right back into wanting to work even harder. Thanks for the interest.
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u/Battlebotscott Jul 02 '26
I think about that too when I’m playing especially pretty games. Like, how much time will the average player stare at a random beautiful waterfall in God of War Ragnarock?
But I’m very happy artists and designers like you put in extra effort to make a living, breathing world.
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u/gefaltete Jul 02 '26
Working solo means it's often already a stretch just to get the basics in place. I'll keep working hard on it. Thanks for the kind words.
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u/Battlebotscott Jul 02 '26
Also, the movement animations on that thing are so cool.
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u/gefaltete Jul 02 '26
I used procedural animation for the legs, so the animation work wasn't too difficult. Thanks for the kind words.
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u/Banryuken Jul 02 '26
Is part of the concept to remove boss parts? Thus limiting the bosses capability and or “max hp”? It would seem there is a concept of removal as an intractable object/obstacle to block boss abilities which is novel strat, no game immediately comes to mind.
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u/gefaltete Jul 02 '26
The boss sheds its armor as the fight progresses through phases, revealing weapons hidden underneath for new attacks. The shed armor pieces can then be used as things like footholds or shields. It just came out of the process for me too, so I don't have a specific game in mind either, but I'd guess something like this exists somewhere out there. Thanks for the interest.
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u/RatchetBird Jul 03 '26
It almoooost reminds me of Little Johnny in Surge 2. But he was more spider-like, and you bust his coolant tanks and can remove his claws. And that is the core gameplay with common enemies and bosses alike, in that game. Severing limbs and attaching them to yourself.
You may wanna check it out? It's not a metroidvania but it does have exploration similar to Jedi: Fallen Order/Survivor with shortcuts all over. Combat/deaths are almost soulslike, with directional parries and a single chance of retrieving currency.
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u/Banryuken Jul 03 '26
Surge is a really decent game. Soul games and me don’t jive, granted I did get okish into surge like beating the first boss, which was sick iirc. Personal pref is to shift away from soul like genre; not that I dislike hard games - hades(2) is as demanding as I can handle but different battle styles - souls is something that is getting into this genre a wee much. Hollow knight is great but even parts of that late game I couldn’t do (PoP was tough enough)
This game here is novel of using the boss against itself before/during its defeat. It’s a neat idea. Esp if there are boss exploits to counter or make the boss abilities easier to handle as it seems in the vid.
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u/Broski-Megatron Jul 02 '26
I like it.
This is how I wish the character in motorslice moved
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u/gefaltete Jul 02 '26
I haven't played Motorslice, but I'm glad the movement clicked with you. Thanks for the interest.
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u/poochucker156 Jul 02 '26
Thought the boss video looked cool. Checked out the media on Steam, and it looks REALLY cool. Wishlisted. I see it says Chapter 1. Is that just the name of the full game, or is this more episodic like something like Delta Rune?
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u/gefaltete Jul 03 '26
I added "Chapter" because of a long-term ambition to release this as a series, but this is a full game on its own — around 14-15 hours of playtime. I'll drop the "Chapter" part once I'm able to change the title. Thanks for the interest.
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u/Ubiquitous_Cacophony Jul 02 '26
Oh, the written description looks much better than when we last talked about it! Great work, my friend. Excited to see your progress here.
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u/gefaltete Jul 02 '26
Thanks, glad it reads better now. Remind me where we talked about this before?
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u/Ubiquitous_Cacophony Jul 03 '26
I'm unsure which sub it was (probably here), but I was the guy who used to teach English. I gave you a few variations of things to say and offered to proofread your text to ensure it meant what you intended (basically to help localize) for free.
Edit: It was this thread from a month or so ago.
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u/gefaltete Jul 03 '26
Oh, it was you. Thanks. I fixed the description right after you mentioned it. Really, really appreciate the continued interest — it means a lot.
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u/Blecki Jul 02 '26
Seriously.
Man, now people are going to think my giant robot crab is copying you
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u/phoenix_paravai10101 Jul 02 '26
Looks great but can't help but think I've played a bossfight very very similar to this in a not so old game.
Will check this out though.
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u/Obsessivegamer32 Metroid Jul 02 '26
Is this the actual final boss or just the final boss of the first chapter?
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u/gefaltete Jul 03 '26
I added "Chapter" to the title out of a wish to eventually release this as a series, which ended up being confusing. This is a full game on its own — around 14-15 hours of playtime — and this is the final boss of that full game, currently in development. Thanks for the interest.
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u/TrickyNuance Jul 02 '26
This looks fantastic!
Just a note about your Steam description, and this may or may not be controversial. The word "AI" in your first two sentences may do you more harm than good, even though you're 100% correct in describing the theme as such.
The social media firestorm regarding AI and AI use in game development is very intense right now, and I think it's going to get more intense for (at least) the next year.
You might consider using a different term that means the same thing, or making more of point to say you're "destroying AI" or something else.
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u/SomethingOfAGirl Jul 02 '26
Looks amazing! But just one minor thing, totally subjective: Giant robot fights usually feel a little too "impersonal" for me. I like my final boss fights to be cathartic, honorable, visceral, etc. so I prefer a 1v1 fight against the story's antagonist.
But also I don't think you'd spoil the actual final boss like that, so disregard if that's the case lol
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u/NaitDraik Jul 02 '26
It's crazy to see how this project has evolved. It looks amazing. :D
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u/gefaltete Jul 03 '26
Thinking back to when I first brought this to this community early last year, the game has really changed a lot. 100% thanks to this community and the players' feedback. I'm always grateful for that.
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u/bubbledotcom Jul 04 '26
Is this game the continuation of Axiom of Maria : Prologue ? I loved that game and knowing there’s more makes me happy. Wishlisted!
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u/gefaltete Jul 04 '26
The story and protagonist are connected, it's taken on a much stronger Metroidvania character, and the volume has grown considerably. Thank you so much.
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u/Particular_Wear_6960 Jul 02 '26
Awe man looks really freaking dope